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THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 ,2016

2016: The year of the loss Review: Fantastic Beasts
we were also gripped by a numKurtis Rideout
ber of social issues that threaten and Where to Find Them
Web Editor
I think we should all take a
post-game knee as 2016 comes
to a close and reflect on what
has been one of the most eventful and exhausting years of the
2010s.
On a personal note I would argue that things have never been
this messed up, but I’m only 21
and I didn’t see the fall of the
kremlin first hand… so heed the
bias.
Case in point: let’s talk about
those ‘where were you when…’
moments. You often hear old
people say stuff to the likes of
“I remember exactly what I was
doing when Kennedy got shot”
and hell, one of my first clear
memories is watching the 9/11
attacks unfold from the teachers’ lounge at my grade one
teacher’s insistence. “You guys
will remember this for the rest
of your lives,” she said, adding nothing really to soften the
blow.
What I failed to understand
at that point was the lasting impact that such shocking and polarizing events can have on all of
us, children in particular.
With this in mind, you can
probably already imagine what
people will say when they reflect on 2016. We lost some of
the greatest talents and creative
minds; artists, athletes and societal darlings that inspired awe
and strength in each of us as individuals.
People broadcast their condolences for the greats: Muhammad Ali, Alan Rickman, comedy
heavyweights Gene Wilder and
Mickey Rooney. Radio stations
fervently played Bowie and
Prince classics; I even heard a
Prince song on a country music
station.
In addition to losing some of
our most beloved celebrity icons
(and Cincinnati zoo residents),

to tear us apart. The BLM movement gained strength as police
continued to abuse their power,
we even saw this come to a boiling point when several police
officers were killed in Dallas and
it was falsely attributed to the
movement.
It was a hard fought year for
human rights, and the continuing battle for equality acquired a
number of casualties.
Did I forget to mention the
presidential campaign to end all
presidential campaigns? I probably don’t even need to go into
detail on that one.
Evidently, no matter who you
are, it’s hard to deny the fact that
we all left a piece of ourselves
behind in 2016, but it does us no
good to look at this from a purely negative perspective.
The fact of the matter is
(whether or not we choose to
acknowledge it) it wasn’t just
all the ‘Harambe’ memes or
the dope selection of television
shows that bonded us this year.
As is usually the case, it was
all the tragedy and the loss
that brought us together more
than anything in 2016, and I
think that became truly apparent when the world collectively
held its breath waiting for the
US election results.
And therein lies the silver lining: whether we like it or not, it
is oftentimes the negative things
that bond us. Instead of dwelling on them though, we must
move forward and learn from
our mistakes.
As humans I think we definitely all have a long way to go,
but before we move forward
into the fresh new year of 2017,
we must all take time to accept
2016 for what it really was: the
year of the L.

Magical Beasts is no Harry Potter but it sure is magical. Chrstina Manocchio/The Sputnik

Christina Manocchio

Editor-in-Chief
Warning: This article contains
spoilers.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter created a classical tale with
mystical adventures for children to grow up with. Rowling’s
new movie Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them carries out
the fantasy of Harry Potter for
the first time since 2011.
In movie Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them, Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander
who is an expert in magizoologist, in muggle terms he specializes in the magical beasts that
occur in Rowling’s tales. For
sure he is no Harry, but this isn’t
the same film. The new set or
characters provide a refreshing
take on a magical Rowling story.
Redmayne is no replacement
for Daniel Radcliff, but he does
a pretty good job keeping the
magical elements alive throughout the film.
There are ties between the
movie Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them and Harry
Potter, leaving the sense of nostalgia for the now adult audiences. An American perspective on the wizarding world is a
contrast to the British invasion
we’re all used to. There is new
terminology which points out

the differences of language between the British and the Americans, which is also the case in
reality. Getting used to hearing
No-Maj instead of muggle creates a new set of terminology
for the audience to get used to.
Another interesting element to
the movie is the funny laws that
The Magical Congress of the
United States of America has.
These laws leave the audience
pondering, like why can’t muggles marry wizards? If Hermione wasn’t British she wouldn’t
exist? Even the punishments for
wizards appear a bit extreme.
This could be Rowling’s way on
commenting on the American
legal system, but who knows.
The film takes place in 1926
which contrasts the slightly
more modern Harry Potter. The
movie gives historical background to Hogwarts and future
stories. Scamander is a future
writer for Hogwarts literatue.
For sure, this is no Harry Potter movie, but an seeing this
British movie from an American perspective adds another
layer of wonder to this magical
experience. Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them allows the
continuation of the Rowling experience by branching the story
off into more directions allowing more elements and layers to
the exiting Harry Potter series.

Should we welcome Americans?
Avril De Silva
Staff Writer
The United States election
has taken a crazy turn. Most
people did not want presidentelect Donald Trump to win.
Ironically, he did. I conducted
a dozen interviews with professors and students around campus. I wanted to explore their
thoughts and views on a potential wave of immigrants from
the U.S. entering Canada, due to
the new elected president.
Mr. Trump has openly advocated for sexism, racism, xenophobia and homophobia. He has
a reputation for being a womanizer and is openly well known
of history as a misogynist. As a
leader, one should be compassionate towards all humans
and respectful. Trump openly
promised to build a “large” wall
across the Mexican border and
he promised to make the Mexican government pay for it. This
was his plan to stop Mexican
immigrants from entering the

United States. He also intends
on deporting the Muslim population as he claims all Muslims
to be terrorists. Mr. Trump is
quite famous for being arrogant
towards certain groups of individuals and surprisingly, the majority of the U.S. population voted him in to be their next leader.
Trump won most of his votes
from small states. The U.S. election has shown us that issues
such as racism, homophobia,
xenophobia and sexism are current issues and not those that
we have overcome. They are ongoing social problems that we
should continue to work on.
The United States is one of
the most powerful countries in
the world, and quite frankly, it
is sad to see them elect a leader
who disrespects the work of
past leaders who have worked
tirelessly in order to overcome
social problems. Racism, homophobia, xenophobia and
sexism are social problems that
have been overcome, but Trump
wants to take a step back. He

has gone back on his words like
promising a large wall on the
Mexican border, or disagreeing
that he has ever supported in
nukes been released.
A large number of students
and professors I spoke with
thought that the immigration
website crashing on election
night was hilarious. This also
poses a concern as to how many
people would have been considered the idea of migrating. Bullying and violence in local schools
has risen and immigrants have

been physical violence. The verbal, mental and physical abuse
endured by immigrants is not
okay.
Canada would definitely
benefit from attracting skilled
workers from the U.S., however citizens moving from the
U.S. solely because they do not
like their elect president is not
a good enough reason. In fact,
it is more reason to stay in the
US and improve their judicial
system.

Americans don’t get to choose what country bears their burden. Sai Gnanaharan/The Sputnik

Shreya Shah
News Editor
On Nov. 15, the Amnesty club
at Laurier showcased the My
Body, My Rights photo gallery
on campus.
The My Body, My Rights is a
global campaign was started by
Amnesty International and it focuses on fighting the control and
criminalization of sexual and reproductive rights.
The photo gallery featured individuals who took off all their
clothes and adorned their bodies with quotes and captions.
Each caption spoke to what the
My Body, My Rights campaign
meant to the model.
Mameera Uthayan, the Social
Media and Promotions Coordinator for Amnesty, organized
the pictures and the gallery.
“Amnesty International does
this every year. I thought, ‘I love
photography, I love capturing
expressions and thoughts, just
not through words.’ My Body,
My Rights, is the best way as
a feminist, especially a brown
woman, to get myself out there.
So I reached out to Amnesty
to see if we can do this. I didn’t
know if people would be comfortable with doing this, I didn’t
even know if we could do it. But
it turns out everyone was into
it.”
The series was supported by
Amnesty International: Laurier Brantford Chapter, Laurier
Brantford: Human Rights and
Human Diversity Student Association, Laurier Brantford
Women’s Centre and the Sexual

Assault Centre of Brant.
The co-president of Amnesty
and treasurer of the Human
Rights and Human Diversity
Student Association (HRHD),
Sinthu Vimaladasan, explained,
“For the purpose of having the
campaign at Laurier, we wanted
to focus on our students. We decided to use My Body, My Rights
to talk about consent on campus
and sex work.”
Sinthu also posed as a model
for the series and she focused on
the concept of shadeism, also referred to as colorism.
“As a dark-skinned Tamil
woman, I am perplexed by this
colonial, classist, caste-based
notion that the lighter you are,
the more beautiful you are. It’s
upsetting that our community,
among others, views whiteness as a measure of beauty. It’s
very unfortunate that shadeism
is so rampant and is now a billion dollar industry on a global
scale. Growing up, we are often
told to avoid the sun or encouraged to use toxic skin-bleaching
product and oh yes, frequently
reminded that we’ll eventually
get lighter in the winter. I think
it’s time we take a second to acknowledge how discriminatory,
backwards and plain stupid this
is. All my coloured sisters and
brothers, it’s time we celebrate
all shades of melanin because
I’m dark skin, I own it and y’all
should too.”
Laura Favacho, who is the
communications executive for
HRHD and the events coordinator for Amnesty, candidly dis-

Sharyne Williams. Photo courtesy of Amnesty International

cussed the backlash for participating in the series.
“Personally, I didn’t get too
much negative feedback, but my
boyfriend did. One of his buddies messaged him and asked
how he could be okay with me
posting photos like that. My dad
is not too happy but we don’t really talk about it. But for me, it’s
too important to ignore the fact
there is still rape culture around.
And the fact that many women
still feel so belittled all the time,”
said Favacho.
For Dominique Benedetti,
who identifies as a Genderqueer
individual, deciding to do the
photoshoot was a tough decision.
“My picture specifically talks
about being trans. I was defi-

nitely concerned about doing
the pictures because I haven’t
been out for that long. And especially because this is not a conversation that we have a lot of
experience facilitating on campus. It’s a specific experience.
I think people might have seen
my picture and been confused
or they were uncomfortable or it
was something they didn’t get,”
explained Benedetti who is also
the co-president of Amnesty
and the co-president of HRHD.
“It was an amazing opportunity for people to share their stories and it was a very personable
campaign. Students on campus
could see that the issues we are
talking about are very real, they
are not things that happen in
the outside world, whether it

be sexual assault or racial discrimination. It was a chance for
me to speak about my personal
experiences and I thought it was
a very positive campaign,” said
Sharyne Williams who is the
co-president of HRHD and the
treasurer of Amnesty, found that
the photo series was a great platform to start some discussions
oriented around sex and race.
The campaign was well received by the Laurier population, with many students asking
to be a part of the next photo
series.
If you missed the photo gallery, the entire photo collection
is available to view on the Facebook page of Amnesty International Laurier Brantford Chapter.

4

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

NEWS

SHREYA SHAH | NEWS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

You can now get a degree in what?
Hyrra Chughtai
Staff Writer
Two new programs have recently received approval at Laurier’s Brantford Campus: User
Experience Design (UX), and
Work and Employment, both
which will be starting in fall 2017.
The UX program was approved on Nov. 4 2016, and is
run by Dr. Abby Goodrum. It
is a four-year program collaborating with Conestoga College.
Graduates will receive an Honours Bachelor of Design in User
Experience Design, as well as a
graduate certificate from Conestoga.
“User Experience Design is
a holistic method of designing
from a user’s perspective,” explained Goodrum.
The process of getting the
program approved was very
time-consuming. The approval
itself was delayed as well, as we
are very late into the recruitment stage for high school students who apply in December.
This would allow less time for
high school students to learn
about the program.
“It was hard, there were a lot
of internal and external checks.
It took about a year to get it
through all of the internal processes. When it went to the ministry for approval that was back
in maybe May or June, and then
we waited until recently when
we got the announcement,” said
Goodrum.
The paperwork process and
approval weren’t the only thing

that took majority of time. To
have an actual solid case as to
why this program would be beneficial, Goodrum spent most of
her time researching companies
who already use UX designers
for their benefit.
“I went out and talked to UX
designers and found out what
they do and what they need, if
they were going to hire people,
who they wish they could hire.
I went and I talked to over 20
companies. I talked to TD Canada, Manulife, Google, OpenText,
Desire2Learn, Canadian Tire. I
did real user studies with them…
all the methodologies we [learn]
in class to develop this program.
What you find interesting is that
every company is hiring UX designers,” said Goodrum.
As part of the testing process,
there was one ‘test’ class to showcase if the program could actually be successful and if students
are actually engaged. There will
be another this year. The class
is steered more directly at game
design and technology students
more so than others.
“It’s very successful for the
students that knew what UX was
and chose it … There are other
students in the class that took
it just because of their schedule.
They had never heard of UX before,” said Goodrum.
By the beginning of fall 2017,
Goodrum hopes she will see
about 20 first-year students in
the program, and an average of
60 students in the future.
Work and employment is
dedicated to the Faculty of Lib-

Laurier offering a new degree, User Experience Design and Work and Employment. Laura Gorza/The Sputnik

eral Arts, and is also new to Laurier Brantford. The program also
works in partnership with Conestoga College where graduates
will receive a BA along with two
graduate certificates.
Dr. Robert Kristofferson is
the coordinator for work and
employment and will be teaching a first-year course for the
program next year.
“[Work and Employment]
centers on understanding the
world of work, and the employment landscape in Canada and
in the world in general. It’s similar in some aspects to labour
studies programs that you might
find at other Universities, but it

is different in that it gives you
much more practical training in
fields that specifically have to do
with employment,” said Kristofferson.
Although the course may
sound familiar to human resources, it strives to reach a different goal with students.
“People your age are looking
for an average of eight to 11 jobs
over a course of your working
life… youth unemployment is really high as well, so getting into a
first job is really hard for young
people. Employment and career
counsellors help – they get both
into and between employment,”
said Kristofferson.

The Work and employment
program will serve as an alternative to the concurrent education program in collaboration
with Nipissing University which
pulled out in 2014.
“The concurrent education
program at Nipissing fell apart
a couple of years ago, [so] we
started thinking about what new
programs that we could introduce that would be attractive
to introduce, that would lead to
jobs. This program sort of peculated at the top as one of those
programs,” said Kristofferson.

Laurier professor wins international award
Rylee Wolfkamp
Staff Writer
Scott Nicholson, professor
and director of Laurier Brantford’s Game Design and Development program, recently won
the award for best non-digital
game at the Meaningful Play
Conference in Lansing, Michigan. His game was one of 50 internationally to compete for the
award.
“Ballot Box Bumble,” the subject of the award, is an escape
room-style game and is available
for civics teachers to teach students about various aspects of
the Canadian electoral system.
An escape room-style game has
people work together to solve
live action puzzles and mysteries
to try to leave a room.
“I know one way to get a good
understanding of something is
to make a game of it.“ said Nicholson. “I built the whole game
around this narrative that you
are at a polling place that’s just
closed, but you’re a volunteer
and your polling manager is
nowhere to be seen. Elections
Canada is calling in 30 minutes,
and they want to know what’s in
the locked ballot box. So you are
going to do what you can to get

the box open.”
“Escape room-style games
are among many taught by
Nicholson at Laurier Brantford.
Laurier’s Game Design and Development Program is new to
the university as of the 2015/16
school year. According to Laurier’s webpage, throughout the
four years, students “acquire the
skills needed to create a variety
of games – digital, tabletop, and
live-action – that can be used to
change the world, to entertain,
or ideally, both.”
According to Nicholson Laurier Brantford’s game design and
development program is unique
to North America because it
focuses on making games to
change the world at an undergraduate level.
“The program is different
from other game design programs because it doesn’t just
focus on the development of
digital games and coding,” said
Luke Simpson, a game design
student. “[Nicholson] takes us
through the entire development
process, starting with analogue
games and how to get a working
prototype, to pitching the ideas
to a company.”
“[Nicholson] makes the
classes interesting and engaging,

compared to my other classes
where I’m always taking notes.
[In] this class, I can actually pay
attention and don’t really have
to take notes,” said Aran Emin,
a first-year game design student.
“It’s more hands-on and I feel
like that works better for this
program.”
The Meaningful Play conference was established in 2008 and

runs every two years. According
to the conference’s website, it
brings students, teachers and
members of the gaming industry
together to “understand and improve upon games to entertain,
inform, educate, and persuade in
meaningful ways.”
“It’s one of the better conferences around serious games —
people making games to make

a difference in the world,” said
Nicholson.
“Scott’s recent award proves
to us and the community that
our professor knows what he
is talking about and is a person
that is still relevant in the industry he is teaching us about,” said
Simpson.

Laurier professor was an international award for best non-dignial game. Laura Gorza/The Sputnik

Keyana Smith
Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Nov. 16 Laurier’s Criminology Student
Association (CSA) had the opportunity to host Ralph Nader,
a well-known American consumer advocate, lawyer, political
activist and author.
The CSA is a student-led association that organizes and
hosts a diverse range of social
and academic activities for the
benefit and enjoyment of criminology students. They spent
months planning and organizing
this event for Laurier students
and the general public. With the
focus in mind of providing students the opportunity to learn
outside of the classroom by one
of North America’s finest activist, Ralph Nader was the academic the CSA was looking for.
Nader gave a strong lecture to
students, sharing his past and introduction to political activism.
Starting out in Connecticut, he
began his career in activism with
corporate manufacturing ownership.
“At the time, the chances of
getting into a car accident were
five times more likely [than they
are today], and the problem
would always be drawn back to

the driver.”
Nader took it upon himself to
being the problem of corporate
ownership to the table, making
it so the driver would always be
to blame.
He told the audience of his
personal background and how
his parents brought him up to
be the man he is today, focusing
not only on himself, but the lives
of millions across the nation
and the globe. With this mindset, Nader was able to introduce
many landmark American consumer protection legislation.
Many of these legislations have
affected Americans and Canadians alike.
Reform legislations put in
place by Nader have changed the
present for the good and continue to change the future. A key
focus in Nader’s lecture was the
idea of students taking on more
leadership roles and getting together to take action.
“To know and not to do is not
to know,” Ralph Nader said as he
finished up his lecture.
CSA’s President, Ranpreet
Randhawa believes that Nadar
has “the ability to take action.”
Many students after hearing the
Ralph Nader lecture were inspired to make a change, viewing
Ralph Nader as an iconic figure.

“I loved his presentation … It
was about questioning the roots
of consumerism and drawing the
line when it comes to externalizing cost, because that’s what
companies do so they make the
most at their bottom line,” said
Human rights and diversity student Elaheh Sajadi.
“Ralph Nader is an icon. He

tells it as it is and doesn’t shy
away from the truth. [He] just
makes you want to get out there
and make a difference,” said
Daniel Allen, a first-year political
science student who came from
Toronto to hear the lecture.
The CSA plans on having
many more events that will be
as admirable, educational and in-

spirational as Ralph Nader. Students interested can locate their
Facebook page and look out for
posts on upcoming events. One
highlight is CSA’s annual conference that will take place around
March 2017. Students can participate and get involved just by
contacting CSA.

Laurier’s contract negotiation update
Avery McIsaac
Staff Writer
Since Aug. 30, contract staff
at Laurier have been in negotiations that affect about 375 of the
professors currently teaching.
At this time the main goals of
the contract are still the same,
including job security, compensation, and benefits for contract
employees. Michele Kramer,
president of the Wilfrid Laurier
University Faculty Association
(WLUFA) explained that every time contracts end for staff,
they almost always end up at the
negotiation table. During these
negotiations, anything that will
cost the administration money
is left until the end. Things such
as office space, end dates of contracts, and other smaller issues
are discussed first so the administration is able to see the big
picture before deciding where to
spend money.
Negotiations have now begun to discuss these main goals.
There are about six members
for each side at every meeting.
However, the presidents from
both sides cannot be present, in
order to not influence the discussion.
At this point in the negotiations, there has been the request
for conciliation. This occurs at
the request of both sides when
help is needed to move the bargaining along. The request is
then filed to the Ministry of

Labour and a conciliator is appointed. Greg Long was recently
appointed as conciliator to assist
in Laurier’s contract negotiations.
Possible dates have been
given for future meetings in December, but there are no confirmed dates at this time. Kramer
explained that this strategy can
be incredibly helpful because the
insight of someone who is not
involved on either side of the
negotiation is offered. The conciliator makes both sides look at
what they have been debating in
a new, fresh way. If consolation
is unable to move negotiations
forward, there is the option of
bringing in a mediator.
In the case of conciliation,
and mediation if needed, both
teams will often be put into an
isolated area like a conference
room at a local hotel. They remain there for at least two days,
focusing solely on negotiating. In these isolated meetings,
members are there for up to 15
hours at a time with no outside
distractions. Kramer explained
that having long meetings led by
an unbiased party helps move
things along much more quickly.
The WLUFA and the administration will work with a conciliator for two to four days. At the
end, if a deal is not reached, the
conciliator will ask the ministry
of labour for a no board report.
Once this is requested, there is

a 17-day “cooling off” period, at
the end of which the administration is in a position to legally lock
contract employees out. Contract employees are also allowed
to legally strike at the end of this
period. If the dates in December
are confirmed and the meetings
do take place, the earliest these
effects could be seen is January.
As of right now, there is no
immediate talk of a strike taking place. However, Kramer ex-

plained that every time negotiations take place, their team must
always prepare for the worst.
There is some strike preparation
taking place at this time
In the event of a strike or
lockout in the future, any WLU
employee not effected is still required by their agreements to
cross the picket line and do their
jobs. This means that although
a large amount of classes will
be affected, not all will be post-

poned.
There is no exact deadline for
when a contract needs to be finalized. Although the contracts
ended on Aug. 30, the collective
agreement of the contracts lasts
a full year after they end. It is unlike for negotiations to last that
long. If all goes well, both sides
will have come to an agreement
by the new year.

The contract negotiation for staff and faculty of WLU is still a work in progress. Anna Pricipato/The Sputnik

6

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

FEATURES
The Time Capsule: A Tuscarora New Year
DELLESIA NOAH | FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Dellesia Noah
Features Editor
2016 has been one hell of a
year, and I can honestly say that
I’m ready for it to be wrapped up
and over with. I embrace 2017
with open arms, in fact, this may
be an unpopular opinion but I
find New Year’s a far more enjoyable holiday than Christmas.
New Year’s is a far less materialistic holiday, genuinely enjoyed
in the company of friends and
family. Everyone has their own
tradition of ringing in the new
year whether it be religious, cultural or secular. My love of New
Year’s made me want to explore
the way indigenous people at Six
Nations have celebrated and in
some cases still celebrate.
My exploration took me to
the Woodland Cultural Centre,
down on Mohawk Street, where
I met Laura Gallant, education
coordinator at the centre and
author of the children’s book
Nu-Yah.
Nu-Yah, meaning New Year in
the language of the Tuscarora
people, has a bit of a historical
background. After the devastation of the war that occurred
earlier in the 18th century, Tuscarora people migrated to Pennsylvania where they came in

contact with Dutch and German
people.
“[The Dutch and Germans]
have a tradition on New Year’s
day where they travel house to
house and they give the family
they visit the gift of cakes.The
tuscarora women, they kind of
liked that, they thought it was a
nice idea,” Gallant said.
The idea was adopted and integrated into Tuscarora culture.
As Gallant told the story I
found it kind of amazing; a positive historical interaction between first nations people and
European settlers, a fusion of
two cultures.
“When they had family over,
[the Tuscarora people] baked
cookies and they made them
into the shape of their clans, and
gave them to their family when
they came to visit.”
Some of the Tuscarora nation
stayed in Pennsylvania, while
some continued to travel north
until they settled in Brantford
and joined the other nations.
The Mohawk, Oneida. Cayuga,
Seneca and Onondaga who
had already been established by
the Grand River for some time.
These nations lived in longhouses and they followed a different
calendar from the European calendar. They already held their

own New Year tradition of the
Mid-Winter festival, which occurred in late January, early February.
“It’s a time of celebration,
special foods, special dances,
songs and games. It’s about giving thanks for all of the things in
a year. In the winter time we’re
all inside and it’s a time of storytelling, it’s a time of gathering
together and being warm and it’s
time of eating,” Gallant said.
“The Tuscarora people wanted to participate somehow, but
[they] did not have longhouses
because they just came as a
group of people, so, they wanted
to share something. [The nu-ya
tradition] was their idea.”
Gallant’s story of Nu-Yah solidified for me why New Year’s
will always be my favourite holiday. It’s an example of how cultures come together and learn
and take from one another.
What started out as a Dutch and
German holiday integrated itself
into Tuscarora culture, which
then moved to integrate itself
with the rest of the other nations. Celebrations of the new
year are where all nations can
relate and unify.

The tradition of Nu-Yah is captured in the children’s book. Christina Manocchio/The Sputnik

The Faculty of Liberal Arts is funding half-credit, two-semester
Research Apprenticeships in collaboration with Laurier’s
undergraduate academic journal, Bridges.
Each student will work closely under the supervision of a
faculty member, receive a research budget of up to $1 000 and
fill a position on Bridges’ Editorial Board (Managaing Editor,
Article Editor, or Book Review Editor).
If interested, please email a cover letter and resume to
bridges@wlu.ca by December 14th, 2016

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

7

FEATURES

DELLESIA NOAH| FEATURES@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Shit parents say...
Kathleen Binder
Photography Editor

“If you keep making that face,
it will stay like that. Chocolate
milk comes from brown cows.
When you become a parent, you
grow eyes on the back of your
head.” Do any of these sound
familiar? Parents say the darndest things. Growing up, many
people are told these phrases, or
phrases that are similar to these
by their parents.
Growing up woth my mother,
like her mother before her, created a figurative creature named
the “Bipper.” Now that I am
significantly older, I realize that
the Bipper was created to ensure that my sister and I were
safely indoors when night rolled
around. When the sun began
to set, my mum would pop her
head outside the screen door
and call us in. We’d give her the
usual “five more minutes” call
back. After calling for us a couple
more times, she would holler out
“if you don’t come in soon, the
Bipper will come and get you!”
With that, my sister and I would
enter a heated race for the door
(often pushing the other to get a
head start).
A study, published in the International Journal of Psychology, examined the use of “instrumental
lying.” This tactic was very common amongst the majority of
parents in North America.
When Katie Cain was young,
she was told that the moon was
made of green cheese.
“I still remember the teacher
asking us what we thought the
moon was made of. I put up my
hand and proudly answered
‘Green cheese,’ and the whole
class laughed at me. This is the
only thing from my childhood

that my parents lied about that
has caused me grief.”
Natasha Flegel, a Laurier
Brantford student, remembers
when she was a young child she
would cry because of her freckles.
“I didn’t know why I was the
only one in my class [who had
freckles]. My mom told me I was
born in a strawberry patch, and
my freckles were the strawberry
seeds,” Flegel said. “Little did
she know, I would try to scrub
them off of my face and actually
gave myself cloth burn.”
Jennifer Mansell, a social
worker and family therapist, told
Today’s Parent that there are no
concrete rules about what is acceptable and unacceptable to
lie to your children about. She
said that it is more important for
parents to have a concrete intent
behind their fibs.
“Our basement was dark and

dingy—not a place for younger
kids,” said Fred Fitz, a Brantford parent. “In order to keep
my three [children] from going
down there, I told them there
were monkeys that would get
them. It worked until they were
11 or 12.”
Fitz mentioned that he utilized his oldest son in his little
white lie.
“Having an older brother
pushing the monkey thing on
them caused the two younger
to rethink a venture downstairs
even when they were older.”
I suppose we’ll never really
understand why parents utilize
white lies, and fib to their children until we are in their shoes
weeks, months or even years
from now. What I am certain
of is that that the legend of the
“Bipper” will live on in my family.

Parents tell their children the darnedest things. Kathleen Binder/The Sputnik

Oh joy, it’s the holidays again
Anya Enland
Staff Writer
Christmas is celebrated by
millions of people around the
world. Disliking Christmas is
not the popular opinion, but
there are some who dislike it
nonetheless. Everyone has a reason, whether it be because of an
upsetting memory or because
Christmas has become a materialistic holiday. Here is a little
perspective on why some people
are not fans of Christmas or the
holiday season.
Their Story:
“I dislike the annoying music
and jingles and the fact that it’s
the same music everywhere. It’s
just a spending gimmick to me
that the media has totally taken
advantage of. [It] makes people
stress and fight just for materialistic things. People stress out
so much for something that’s for
only a day. Seeing people literally
fight at malls and get hurt and
families fighting for gifts is just
ridiculous to me, and it makes
me angry that everyone is just
blinded and brainwashed by this
holiday.”-Stephanie Solorzano
“I hate Christmas and the holiday season because it brings up
a lot of sad memories from the
past. My dad left when I was
young, so coming from a broken
home, I lost the magic of Christmas. My family does nothing
but fight when we’re together,
so it makes it difficult to enjoy. I
find Christmas and the holiday
season in general has become
extremely materialized. People
are more focused on gifts and
extravagant decorations rather
than spending time with loved
ones. I think about the people
who have nothing on Christmas,

the ones living in poverty and on
the streets. The ones who don’t
get stuff themselves with a grotesque amount of food because
all they can afford is a can of
beans to share.”-Jane Doe*
“I realized Christmas was too
much of a bother. I saw how
prices went up and the craziness
of Black Friday. I figured the corporate greed and the desire for
material items overshadowed
spending time with loved ones …
I have to work harder than usual
to appear cheery. It takes a toll
on one’s mental wellness. It is
difficult to pretend to enjoy the
holidays for the benefit of others.” -Meghan Cameron
When was the exact moment
you started disliking Christmas/holiday season?
“I think maybe up until I was
about eight or nine years old I
started disliking it. My mom is a
single mom raising my brother
and I. We ended up moving to
Utah when I was eight years
old. We were homeless a few
times in the span of two years. It
was a very hard time for me as a
child leaving everything behind
and losing everything and being
separated from all my friends.
I was definitely depressed. We
lived near the mountains in Utah
so it was always cold and snowy.
During Christmas we received a
couple gifts through the church
that helped us but I wasn’t allowed to keep my gifts since
we had to move again and we
couldn’t carry much with us. So
I feel like I just learned not to get
attached to the gifts I received
because I would have to give
them up. I think I just started to
not care about Christmas at that
point.” -Stephanie Solorzano
* Asked to remain anonymous

Why game design takes four years
Jelena Vulić
Staff Writer
It’s hard enough to avoid assumptions around an arts program in university. Many people
don’t see the point in pursuing
the arts as a lifelong career, especially when there’s the notion
that workers in the field simply
don’t make a lot of money, or at
least not enough to live comfortably - not unless the students get
extremely lucky anyways. Throw
Laurier Brantford’s Game Design and Development program
into the picture, and even more
wildly incorrect assumptions
pop up.
When asked about the most
frustrating assumptions regarding the program, professor Scott
Nicholson was quick to say that
people assume that the program
produces programmers for recreational video games.
“It’s not just programming,”
he stated. “You learn all of the
other stuff that’s more important. It’s not recreational games;

the games have some sort of
educational value. It’s not just
video games, but it’s all sorts of
games.”
Nicholson has also reiterated
on several occasions about how
the game lounge located in the
Grand River Hall building is not
meant to be a recreational space
for game design students only.
The space’s purpose is to immerse game design students in
various games so that they can
pick up on certain mechanics
of both video games and board
games that could be used in their
own games. This is to add more
tools to their “game design tool
kit.”
The game lounge also has the
purpose of allowing students to
test out each other’s games, as.
Playtesting is an integral part of
developing a game and can be
compared to the scientific process. Students, with their newlydeveloped games, have certain
hypotheses about how players
will understand or interact with
their games. It’s hard not to ap-

proach the assumed playtesting
results with a bias, as the students understand the mechanics
of their own games better than
anyone else. The purpose of
playtesting is to see where things
went right and wrong in a game.
A game designer’s theories and
work only get better with practice.
That’s part of the point of having a game design program, but
why have it as a four-year university program?
“The goal is to allow people
to work with an organization,”
Nicholson explained. “To both
make a game and to see if that
game has a greater impact. That
activity alone is a full year. That
means that we have three years
to get students ready to do that
stuff. If we start with the theory
and analog approach, that’s one
of the years. That leaves us with
two years left. Those two years
in the middle are there to understand the programming side of
games.”
“Also, we come back into the

theoretical side. If you look at it
like a map, you start in theory,
move into analog, then you move
into making digital stuff. We
then come back around to theory with things like project management and ethics and think
‘Now that we’ve got those skills,
we want to understand how to
use those in a larger context.’
Then, you’re ready to go out and
work with an organisation. If
we didn’t have that partnership
with an organisation, then we
wouldn’t need that fourth year,
but that fourth year is critical to
make something that’s yours, so
that it would be easier for you to
get a job.”
What students are expected to
learn can be narrowed down by
Jesse Schell’s Map of the Game
Design Process, which was
published in his book The Art of
Game Design. It touches up on
five key parts of game design: the
designer themselves, the process of developing the game, the
game itself, the players, and the
player’s’ experience. As anyone

can see, there’s a lot that needs
to be considered within these
five parts, including documentation, the game’s theme, the players’ mindset and so much more.
Game design is not just a
bunch of lazy kids sitting around
and playing games all day. They
are learning as they’re experiencing the games; they’re picking up on mechanics, narrative,
player interaction, and so much
more. The games they make
have a purpose, such as teaching
people about the responsibilities
of owning a pet or urging people
to do something about gender
violence. The program itself is
no walk in the park either. Like
any program, it may include late
nights working away on a paper
or taking off recreational time to
do more research. However, it’s
the students’ passion about what
they’re doing and their willingness to put in those hours of
work when learning about their
future professional field that
makes it all worthwhile.

8

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

ARTS & CULTURE
MATTHEW BURLEY | ARTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

The best rap albums of 2016 Fingers fly at Downtown Showdown
Matthew Burley
A&C Editor
Being as subjective as it is,
music is difficult to objectively
critique. Everyone has their
own preference of genre, style
and tempo, among every other
aspect of music. However, good
music is good music, and deserves to be shared; regardless of
if it’s the newest single, album or
mixtape.
2016 has yet to end, and it has
already seen it’s fair share of rap
releases. In this ocean of rap music, it’s become evident that the
quality rises to the top, while
the remainder sinks to the bottom. That being said, there are
a handful of diamonds in the
rough of 2016.
Anderson .Paak started January off with his serenading sophomore studio album, Malibu.
.Paak’s personal lyrics and sing
songy delivery paired with organic sounding production leave
the listener wanting to loop the
album on repeat.
February was a heavy month
for the rap scene. After switching
the name from So Help Me God,
to SWISH to WAVES ,Kanye
West released his eighth album,
The Life of Pablo. TLOP featured
heavy hitters such as Kendrick
Lamar and Future over a collection of beats that West helped
produce himself. Although it is
obviously a Kanye album, TLOP
feels like a collective album
due to all of the featured artists and producers featured on
the album. Earlier in February,
Toronto’s Jazz Cartier released
his sophomore mixtape, Hotel
Paranoia. The release was overshadowed by the pre hype of
TLOP, however, Cartier’s sharp
lyrics shine over Lantz’s executive production. Indonesian rapper Rich Chigga gets the honorable mention for his single, “Dat
$tick”, which caught the attention of well known rappers such
as Ghost Face Killa.
March gave us the return of
the New York trio, Flatbush
Zombies, with their debut album, 3001: A Laced Odyssey. The
Zombies had released a number
of mixtapes in the past, however,
3001: A Laced Odyssey, brings
fresh production and ideas to
the table.
April was a big month for Toronto, after October’s Very Own
Drake released his fourth album,
Views. The forever meme worthy
Drake was unable to persuade all
critics, however, he was able to
score 12 non-consecutive weeks

at number one on the Billboard
200.
Things started to pick back
up in May, with the release of
Chance the Rapper’s debut album Coloring Book. Coloring
Book is filled with influences of
religion and peace, leaving the
reader with positive vibes. U.K.
grime rapper, Skepta, released
his unexpected fourth studio
album, Konnichiwa. Skepta’s fast
paced flow and British slang go
hand in hand with the dark, electronic production.
Despite the fact that he was
imprisoned for it’s release, Kodak Black dropped one of the
best mixtapes of the year, Lil
B.I.G. Pac, in June. With a slow,
nasally flow, Kodak added some
variety to the rap game this year.
July’s offering is the introspective debut mixtape, Telefone by
Noname. The ten track mixtape
is sprinkled with jazz, soul and
gospel influences, and featured a
number of underground Chicago artists. A perfect soundtrack
to start off a Sunday morning.
A little over four years after the
release of the mixtape Channel
Orange, Frank Ocean released
his first studio album, Blonde,
this past August. Blonde showcases Ocean’s skills as a songwriter and separates him from a
majority of the other artists currently out.
As the weather began to cool
down, so did the rap releases.
Mac Miller released his fourth
studio album, The Divine Feminine in September. The album
featured themes of loss and love,
while giving Miller the perfect
platform to showcase his consistently improving vocal skills.
October has been the slowest
month of 2016 thus far. However, D.R.A.M. released his debut
album, Big Baby D.R.A.M.. The
album’s quality was inconsistent,
however, it became the home for
the summer banger, “Broccoli”.
The temperature begins to
rise in November, with the release of A Tribe Called Quest’s
final album we’ve got it from here…
Thank You 4 Your service and
Belly’s tenth mixtape, Inzombia,
which were both released Nov.
11. we’ve got it from here… Thank
You 4 Your service celebrated the
life of late-tribe member, Phife
Dawg. The album also hinted
at aspects of politics and equality. Ottawa-based rapper, Belly,
shows his range on Inzombia,
switching flows on almost every track. One can only wonder
what 2017 will bring...

Matthew Burley
A&C Editor
As you enter Market Square,
the clinking of plastic wheels
echoes throughout the mall.
Having joined a group of confused-looking spectators, you
peer down the balcony to find
over 60* (this number will
change) fingerboarders clustered in and around the fountain.
They are huddled around miniature skate features, ranging from
butter benches to poles jams,
with everything in between.
As you walk down the stairs,
the scent of pizza is heavy in the
air, despite the pile of empty pizza boxes behind the refreshment
table. Fingerboards fling, flick
and fall as their owners attempt
to string along lines of tricks.
The flashes and beeps of video
cameras gets stronger as you
wade through the sea of contestants. After slinking through
groups of tie dyed teens, you
spot the prize table, filled with
various products such as fingerboards and apparel. A particular
marble ledge catches your eye as
you begin to walk away.
Suddenly, the shrill shrieks of
a megaphone siren pierces your
ears from above. As you look up,
a shower of stickers waft from
the balcony towards a crowd
of outstretched hands. A handful of attendees wrestle on the
ground for the remaining, uncollected stickers. You’ve just been
thrown into the middle of the
second Downtown Showdown.
The Downtown Showdown,
hosted by Joycult Wheels, was
a fingerboarding contest made
to bring people together and
support the subculture. Joycult
Wheels owner, Matt Watkinson,
was ecstatic about the turnout of

Some of the miniature skate featured were based off of skate spots in Brantford.
Mike Rykov/The Sputnik

the event. “It’s always awesome.
Ten people could have showed
up and it still would have been
cool,” said Watkinson.
Watkinson noted he especially pleased with the number
of contestants from outside of
Brantford. A handful of attendees travelled from as far as Pittsburgh and Saskatchewan to participate in the event.
“Someone was supposed to
come from Germany,” stated
Watkinson, “but he got caught
up in the U.S. and couldn’t make
it.”
Watkinson decided to opt out
of the traditional contest format for the second Downtown
Showdown, and stated that he
feels,“contests are lame.” This
led Watkinson hold a race and
a raffle instead, as he stated he
finds they give contestants a,
“fair chance” at taking home a
prize. The winners of the race
consisted of Cooper Sasso,
Dylan MacFarlane and Zach Almeida, in respective order.
Some of the miniature skate
features were inspired by skate
spots in downtown Brantford;
one of the more recognizable being Town Hall. Watkinson made
the features himself, along with
the help of Derek Doolittle and

Andrew Merriam, who helped
with the creation of the rails and
wood cutting.
Watkinson stated that he enjoys holding the Downtown
Showdown contests at Market
Square, adding in that he, “wants
to have it [at Market Square] every year.” Watkinson went on
to mention that he feels, “the
contest brings life to the mall,”
which is usually inhabited solely by Williams’ employees and
customers. Watkinson stated
that he feels he was able to use
Market Square thanks to his
Wilfrid Laurier “connection”.
Watkinson formed this relationship with the university through
LaunchPad, a Laurier based program which students and community members reach entrepreneurial goals.
Watkinson stated that he
plans to continue to diversify
Joycult in the future, by selling
not only fingerboard wheels, but
by also getting into apparel such
as t-shirts and sweaters.
Aside from Joycult, the Downtown Showdown was sponsored
by Blackriver, Dynamic, Five
Luck, Bonk Benches, Vaudeville
Fingerboard Obstacles, Flint,
South Soft Supply Co. and The
Norwood Project.

Celeberity deaths 2016
Kurtis Rideout
Web Editor
It seems like we go through the
same cycle of celebrity mourning every year; aging icons pass
away and we all act dumbfounded, like death isn’t some essential
of being alive or anything…
But man, this year was different… right? David Bowie,
Prince, Muhammed Ali, Professor Snape, Lemmy Kilmister…
Kimbo Slice…Harambe?!?
Like come on, talk about ‘bad
things come in threes’… More
like bad things come in armies
and never-ending waves.
It’s as if someone stuck a knife
in your heart the moment Bowie
died, and hasn’t forgotten to
twist it every other week since.
Well, if you have been feeling
this way, you are definitely not
alone, there are lots of people
here on campus just like you.
Zach Friend – First year Health
Studies
Which passing celeb had the
biggest impact on you in 2016?
Well, Lemmy Kilmister, for

sure. [The] guy was a legend;
here we have a 69 year old man,
still touring the world, still making music, who finds out he has
cancer, on his birthday and still
goes out there, still finishes the
last show he can.
It’s amazing, so many artists
drop off a tour for whatever reason, and here we have cancer
riddled Lemmy, nearly 70 years
old, still playing bass and singing
in a heavy metal band.
Do you remember what you
were doing when you heard
about it?
When I heard he had passed I
wasn’t working, it was the weekend, I went and grabbed a bottle,
and watched the funeral live on
Youtube and got quite plastered
What kind of influence have
they had on you in your life?
The influence Lemmy had on
me was to [just] go for it. Lemmy
never let people tell him, how, or
who to be. Lemmy did what he
did best, he was himself; a Nazi
memorabilia collecting, whiskey
swigging, lover of all things fast
and heavy.

I’ve never heard of a more distinctive, stand out, rebellious, in
your face, get out if you don’t
like it enigma of culture. A legendarily ugly man, being overly
popular with the ladies, simply
because he was cool, and he
knew himself.
Katrina McAleer – Fourth year
Youth and Children’s Studies
Which passing celeb had the
biggest impact on you in 2016?
I would have to say Gene
Wilder.
Do you remember what you
were doing when you heard
about it?
I was at work and we had the
radio on and it was announced
that he passed away.
What kind of influence have
they had on you in your life?
His movies were always special to me. My dad showed me
“Young Frankenstein” and we
would always joke about how
funny the movie is.
It’s sad to think that future
generations probably won’t
know of his talent.

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

9

ARTS & CULTURE
MATTHEW BURLEY| ARTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

All photos by Alex Vialette/The Sputnik

Brantford’s downtown is home to a wide variety of shops and small businesses. These businesses define Brantford, but what defines the businesses? This is the inspiration behind “Clerks”; getting to know those who know us so well. From our shoe size to our favourite item on the
menu, these business owners make us feel more like family than customers. With that being said, let us shine the spotlight on Clerks: The best
of Brantford.
To say the least, Brantford is its own weird and quirky town. Spread throughout the downtown there are tons of small and unique restaurants and shops that help define the
area and Laurier campus. With 2016 nearly wrapped up, here is a few fan favourite establishments you can find around downtown.
Alex Vialette
Staff Writer

Starving Artist
Christina Hajiioannou, Owner
How do you take your coffee?
“One milk, two sugar!”
Does the art you guys have sell
well?
“Yes! I have sold 338 paintings to
date in just over one year… This
is a very special show, it’s from
the Canadian Mental Health Association and its called Race to
Wellness.”

Crazy Bills
Ashley Boake, Crazy Bill’s
daughter
If you had to pick one reason,
why do you think students
like your store so much?
“Because of the variety. Not only
do we just sell food for last minute shopping, we also have the
extra stuff that they need like papers, et cetera.”
Out of your inventory, do you
have a favourite piece of glass?
“I do yes, it would be in the high
end glass. It’s a rather expensive
piece, it would be the woodgrain
Blitzkrieg. It is our most expensive piece.”
How much does it go for?
“$3,800. That’s a collaboration
piece, two glassblowers made
that. It’s my favourite.”

Lonnies
Lawrence Xurieb, Owner’s son
You guys have a reputation
among students for being the
spot downtown for drunk
food, how’d you get that?
“It didn’t take very long, we used
to be open 24/7 so mostly by being open all night. It was mostly
the main spot for bars or people
that go to bars come here after and eat mostly poutine. It’s
mostly deep fried food so that’s
bar related food for the most
part.”
How do you guys come up
with the amount of poutines
you have on the menu?
“We’re at 33, with 20 more coming within the next couple of
months. Pretty much if you have
an idea, if we have the ingredients in house and we can a poutine then we’ll bring anything to
the table. So if anybody has any
ideas they can make their own
poutine. It’s mostly my father
who is the creator of most of
those poutines.”

Burrito Brothers
Van Quach, Owner
What sets you apart from other burrito places?
“The owners are here every day
pretty much, we’re very hands
on. We make sure everything
that leaves the door is what we
want, where a lot of other places,
they all have workers that might
not care as much as the owners.”
How do you take your burrito?
“I usually have it with fish and
sweet potato. The sweet potato
gives it a nice sweetness to it and
it has a lot of nutrients so it’s
good for you.”

The Kitchen
Brett Pottruff, Co-owner
Since you guys make everything from scratch, is it
healthier than regular fast
food?
“Definitely, everything is made
from completely natural ingredients. Less salt, less sugar, less
everything. There’s not a single
thing in here that’s not an actual ingredient, so it’s definitely
healthier. Though it’s not health
food it is still is healthy food.”
Which soup of the day is your
favourite?
“I’m hard with favourites, depends on the day and changes
all the time. Probably the Cajun
chicken corn chowder I like a lot
and sweet potato honey soup.”

10

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

SPORTS

DEVON MOMY-GAMACHE | SPORTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Laurier Brantford falls just short on home court
Devon Momy-Gamache

Sports Editor
A pair of wins and a pair of
losses left Laurier Brantford’s
women’s basketball team in
third place and just out of the
championship game in their first
ever tournament on home court.
The Golden Hawks started
with a tough game against the U
of T Mississauga. It was a strong
defensive game for Laurier as
they limited UTM to 24 points.
Fourth-year Torian Adamson
lead Laurier with 11 points, with
the rest of the team scoring six
total as Laurier lost 24-17.
Laurier looked to improve
in their second game against
Lakeshore-Orillia. With 13 more
points Adamson continued to
dominate in the paint on offence.
With more support on offence
Laurier closed out a close game
with some free throws from Natasha Brown to win 32-28.
With a 1-1 record Laurier could
not afford another loss when
they played a strong Humber
North team. A strong start from
captain Rachel Wallace and Ad-

amson helped keep it close with
Wallace scoring five and Adamson adding three. With the
Golden Hawks down 12-8 after
one, the second quarter was full
of strong defensive play as Humber North extended their lead to
14-11.
A few bad passes from Laurier
gave Humber a chance to attack
in transition in the third quarter
as they quickly built a 20-11 lead.
With fewer turnovers Humber was only able to score two
points in the fourth, but a lack of
offence from Laurier gave Humber a 26-16 win.
Outscored 8-1 in the third and
only managing eight total points
over the final three quarters revealed where the team needs to
improve on for later in the season. Playing a zone defence results in Laurier needing to limit
turnovers so that their defence
can have a chance to get in position to execute.
In their final game, Laurier
went out with a strong offensive
game as they scored 37 against
Fleming. The score was tied at

10 at halftime before Laurier
started hitting their shots and
built a 24-14 lead. Laurier didn’t
let off the gas in the fourth where
they scored another 13 points
and only allowed two. Adamson
and Rylee Hill scored a team high
12 each, as six different Golden
Hawks scored in the game.
Adamson scored in double
digits in three out of four games,
dominating the glass all tournament and was the star for Laurier. Adamson gave the rookies
on the team credit for improving since their last tournament,
“I think we did fantastic, a lot
better than before. A lot of our
rookies have been stepping up
and doing a lot better since the
first tournament.”
“I was really proud of everyone, everybody was talking so
no disappointments here,” said
Wallace. “Working on offensive
plays and other than that we’re
fine.”
Laurier’s next and final tournament is Jan. 28 at Conestoga
College.
Laurier improved on offence but fell just short in their first tournament on home court.
Mike Rykov/The Sputnik

2016 is the year of the blown lead
Cyril Tapas
Contributer
Imagine being at the top of
your professional career, moments away from winning it all.
Now imagine blowing that moment in the most horrendous
way possible, and there you have
the biggest theme presented in
the sports world in 2016: blown
leads. Now I don’t mean those

who lose by the mere last few
plays, I’m talking about teams
who basically had it in the bag
but couldn’t carry it through
the last couple of steps. Your big
winners, or should I say losers,
of 2016 are the Oklahoma City
Thunder, Golden State Warriors
and the Cleveland Indians.
Now, who amongst them is the
biggest loser of 2016? Let’s recap

the results: Your first contestant
had the best record in NBA history, surpassing the previous record held by the Chicago Bulls in
1995-96. This team had the back
to back league MVP and were
breaking numerous records day
in and day out. I’m of course
talking about the Golden State
Warriors, who lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers after leading the

series 3-1.
A crucial moment in the series
was losing Draymond Green for
game five, which ultimately lead
to Lebron James dropping 41
points with 16 rebounds and seven assists. Golden State missed
Green more than James misses
his hairline, but that’s beside the
point.
Love him or hate him, you
have to respect what he did in
the finals averaging 29/11/8 and
having one of the best blocks I
have ever seen in game seven to
cap his third championship. Kyrie Irving also did his thing in the
series, averaging 27 points and
being responsible for the game
winning three in game seven of
the NBA finals. This duo certainly outdueled the “splash bros” in
the finals, and deserved to win
its first ever NBA championship.
It only took them 47 years so I
mean, the Raptors still have a
chance, right?
Second up to bat, Francisco
Lindor, will he clutch it for his
squad; no scratch that, for this
city? Nope, the Cleveland Indians choked after being up 3-1 in
the MLB finals. Another Cleveland team or as they like to call
it “Believeland”, had a chance
to make it a magical year for the
city, winning two major sports
championships would make it
big for the city. If this won’t increase their tourist rates, I don’t
know what will.
Unfortunately, the Indians
didn’t have LeBron James playing for them, and choked their
3-1 lead. To be fair, the Indians
played a magnificent game seven, forcing extra innings. Rajai
Davis hit a three run home run,
in the bottom of the eighth to
make things interesting but the

Cubs had the momentum on
their side winning to end their
108 year World Series drought.
Shout out to Michael Lee for
predicting them to win this year,
when did he make his prediction? 1996. Now all I need is next
year’s lottery ticket numbers
and I’m set.
Now the final team: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the underdogs, yet not so much underdogs; since they have two
phenomenal players. Well, they
had two phenomenal players
(cue the sad walking away music). Yes the Oklahoma City
Thunder blew another 3-1 lead,
this time to the Golden State
Warriors in the NBA Western
Conference Finals.
Oklahoma had their way in
the first couple of games. Even
though Durant and Westbrook
had good stats, dropping 30
and 27 points respectively, they
couldn’t find shots in the fourth
quarter losing in game seven.
You know the saying, if you can’t
beat em, join em. Apparently,
Kevin Durant had this tattooed
on his lower back or something
and decided to join the Golden
State Warriors, leaving OKC after nine years. Savagery, I don’t
know who feels worse, Russell
Westbrook or Klay Thompson,
for getting fewer touches during
games now. All I know is that
Durant made himself the newest
villain in the NBA, only to make
Westbrook the newest superhero. Westbrook as Ben Affleck’s
batman? That would be scary on
the court.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

THE SPUTNIK

11

SPORTS

DEVON MOMY-GAMACHE| SPORTS@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

Laurier offence struggled in loss to Laval
Devon Momy-Gamache

Sports Editor
Laurier scoring their first
points with 27 seconds left in
the game, on their 16th drive, is
all you need to know about how
rough of a day it was for the Laurier offence.
Playing the top team in the
country, Laval was always going
to be tough especially in Quebec
City; Laval is now on a 80-3 run
on their home turf. Heading into
the game Laurier was already
missing their starting running
back Eric Guiltinan, who suffered a knee injury against McMaster in the OUA semifinal’s.
New starting running back Levondre Gordon was injured early in the second quarter with an
apparent concussion. Down to
their third string running back,
Laurier also lost their leading receiver when Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
was injured on their next drive.
The offence only managed 75
total yards in the first half putting pressure on the defence to
keep the score close. With stars
across the defence it was surprising to see Laval move the ball
efficiently through the air and on
the ground. Laval jumped out
to a 29-0 lead by halftime, and
scored on five of their first seven
possessions.
Laval quarterback Hugo
Richard spread the ball around,
he started the game completing nine of 10 passes. Richard
finished the first half 15-21 with
151 yards and two touchdowns,
Richard also added 52 yards on
the ground, on four carries.
Head Coach Michael Faulds
appeared to inspire the team
during halftime as the defence
forced two quick punts and only
allowed 10 yards on four plays.
Carson Ouellette returned a
punt 36 yards to the Laval 54 giv-

ing the offence a chance to get
on the board.
Osayi Iginuan ran the ball
11 yards on the first play of the
drive. A quick pass from Michael
Knevel to Brentyn Hall for 25
yards set up the offence inside
the Laval 20. On the third play of
the drive Iginuan broke off a big
run but fumbled at the Laval 6
ending the drive and killing Laurier’s momentum.
After the fumble, Laval effectively ran out the clock for the
rest of the game. Richard added
another scoring run to his total
with under two minutes left in
the third which extended the
Laval lead to 36-0. The Laurier
run defence struggled all game
and allowed Laval to rush for 267
yards on 36 attempts.
Hall was on the receiving
end of a Knevel pass that went
26 yards for a touchdown but
a failed two-point conversion
left Laurier down 36-6 with
1:57 remaining. Knevel finished
what could be the final game of
his career completing 21 of 45
attempts for 174 yards with a
touchdown and interception.
The result only tells half the
story for this Laurier team that
is rebounding from a 1-7 record
in 2013. Since Faulds took over
as coach in 2013 he has helped
rebuild the program and was
named USports coach of the
year this year for his efforts.
The strongest part of this
Laurier team under Faulds was
the defence, especially the defensive backs. Malcolm Thompson, who was injured against
Guelph before the playoffs, and
Godfrey Onyeka lead the group
and should both be back next
year after being named first team
All-Canadians.
The star on defence though
was linebacker Nakas Onyeka
who was named OUA defensive

Laurier struggled to break free on offence as Laval kept them off the scoreboard until the final minutes as Laurier lost 36-6

Paige Bush/The Cord

player of the year and was a first
team All-Canadian. Onyeka is a
top 20 prospect in the CFL draft
but could potentially return for
one final season.
The defensive line will be losing one of Laurier’s top players in
school history Kwaku Boateng.
Boateng is the second ranked
prospect heading into the CFL
draft after being named OUA defensive player of the year in 2015.
He was also named as a second
team All-Canadian for the second consecutive season.
Jalen Price, defensive linemen, and Ron Kinga, defensive
back, may also be gone after

this season creating more playing time for young players. On
offence, the team will be losing
Guiltinan, along with Knevel
and Julien John, both starting
quarterbacks from this season.
The team will most likely turn
to either Tristan Arndt or Jacob
Spinella at quarterback, both are
sophomores and were top recruits coming out of high school.
Running the ball could also
be a problem next year with
Laurier projected to lose four of
their five starting offensive linemen. The offensive line played a
role in the strong running game
Laurier had this season averag-

ing 281.4 yards per game on the
ground, tops in the OUA. The
returning Gordon and Iginuan
will be relied upon more to get
yards using their skills instead of
relying on large holes from the
line. The passing game will also
benefit from a receiving group
that will be returning their top
two options, Gittens Jr. and Hall.
Next season Laurier will
be hoping for another top five
ranking and a chance to host
the Yates Cup. Also, next year
Laurier will be looking to make
their first Vanier Cup since 2005
which will be held close to home
in Hamilton.

Top sports stories of 2016
Scott Maxwell
Staff Writer
2016 is almost over, and it’s impossible to say that it didn’t have
its fair share of exciting stories.
From the Olympics, to some
team’s ending extremely long
championship droughts, we saw
just about everything in sports,
so let’s look at the top 10 stories
from this year.
Penny Oleksiak and Andre de Grasse dominate the
Olympics for Canada: Oleksiak became the first Canadian
to win four medals in the same
Summer Olympics, while de
Grasse brought home three of
his own competing against Bolt.
Denver wins the Super Bowl
in Peyton Manning’s final
season: After many seasons in
which Manning’s defense let him
down, the defense stepped up
on route to a win over the nearly
unbeatable Carolina Panthers.
Usain Bolt and Michael

Phelps retire on top: Bolt
swept all three running events
with gold for the third consecutive Olympics, while Phelps
came out of retirement to win
six medals in swimming, five of
them gold.
Phil Kessel is a Stanley Cup
champion: After lots of criticism from the Toronto media as
a Maple Leaf, Kessel was traded
to the Penguins, proceeded to
win the Stanley Cup in his first
season there, putting up 22
points along the way.
John Scott and the All-Star
Game: After the fans elected
Scott into the NHL All-Star
game, the league tried to outcast
him, and he was traded out of
the division, and sent to the minors. Scott responded with two
goals, winning the game’s MVP
award.
Kevin Durant signs with the
Warriors: One of the biggest
stories of the 2015-16 NBA season was the looming free agent

status of Durant, and where he
may go. While there was speculation that he’d return to the
Thunder, or go to the Raptors or
the Celtics, Durant elected to go
to the Warriors, who were fresh
off a Finals appearance and a
73-9 record, causing controversy
similar too Lebron James move
to Miami.
The 23 minutes that changed
hockey: On June 29, with free
agency looming, hockey saw a
few changes that shook the entire league. First, Taylor Hall was
traded to the Devils in exchange
for Adam Larsson straight up.
Then, Montreal traded defenseman PK Subban to the Predators
for captain Shea Weber. Following closely behind, Steven Stamkos, a pending free agent, resigned with Tampa Bay for eight
more years.
Lebron James gives Cleveland their first championship
in 52 years: After getting drafted
by his local team, the Cavaliers,

Lebron left the team to go to
Miami to win a championship,
a move that saw fans in outrage.
After winning a couple of titles,
he returned to Cleveland, promising a championship there. In
his second season in Cleveland,
he delivered on that promise,
giving the Cavs their first ever
championship, beating the 73-9
Warriors after being down 3-1
(the first time a team has ever
done that in the NBA Finals).
Leicester CIty wins Premier League in the ultimate
underdog story: In the team’s
second season back in the Premier League, Leicester city was
considered a long shot to win
the title, with the odds at 5,000-1
for some bookmakers. However,
they proved just about everybody wrong, winning their first
championship in a fairy tale story. Leister completed the fastest
rise to the title, except for Ipswich Town in 1962, advancing
from the third tier of the English

Football Association (League
One) to Premier League Champions in seven years.
Cubs end their 108-year
World Series drought: The
butt end of jokes for literally centuries, the Cubs could never find
success, no matter how close
they got. Whether you believe
in the Billy goat curse, or have a
dire hatred for Steve Bartman,
the Cubs always found a way
to screw up. After going 103-58
during the season, and making
it to the World Series, it seemed
like the curses would continue
when the Cubs were down 3-1
to Cleveland. But, in storybook
fashion, they made a miraculous
comeback, and won their first
World Series in 108 years.
2016 was a year of underdog
stories, amazing comebacks, and
star athletes ending their careers
on a high note. As we change
the calendar to another year, we
have a whole new year of exciting stories to look forward to.

12

THE SPUTNIK

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

OPINION

JOSH ADESINA | OPINION@THESPUTNIK.CA | @SPUTNIK_NEWS

The importance of personal style

Josh Adesina
Opinion Editor

When it comes to style and fashion, it’s useless trying to fit in. There are so many ways of expressing yourself through clothing. I feel like people are scared of being judged
which is why they avoid developing their own style. I see so many people wearing the same clothing items, and it’s quite depressing!
Developing your own style is one of the easiest ways to build your confidence. It’s your opportunity to show the world who you are. Here are two students at Laurier Brantford with unique styles. We can all learn something from them.

Rawan Shannak
Describe your style.
I tell people I don’t have a style.
Sometimes I like to look classy
and sometimes I like to look
gangster. I grew up in a predominately gangster dressing area.
There were lots of sweatpants,
Adidas outfits and Jordan’s were
a big thing. Sometimes I rock
Jays and other times I rock Steve
Madden looking shoes.
What/who are the influences
of your style?
I admire Rihanna because she
doesn’t have a style. Rihanna
encompasses everything. I’m

inspired by things that draw my
attention. I basically get dressed
blind. I put things together and
I don’t think about it too much.
Sometimes when you try too
hard to look good you look basic.
How important is fashion and
personal style to you and why?
Fashion is extremely important
to me. It’s something I was having a very hard time with. In
Brantford I get looks because of
what I wear sometimes. People
would look at me funny, and
thought that because I dress a
certain way that I thought highly
of myself. I look at it as a form

of expression. Some days I look
homeless and other days I look
like I could walk a runway.
Tips for people who struggle
with personal style?
Try not to fit into a certain category. Take what you like from
people and apply it in different ways. Whatever makes you
comfortable. There is literally
no other way. I’d advise people
that struggle with personal style
to work on themselves and to
understand who they are. If they
take care of themselves everything will fall into place.

Raquel Teichroeb
Describe your style.
I’m influenced by international
styles. I try to keep track of fashion around the world. I mix it
with my signature items. I have
this pair of Doc Martens red
leather boots which I wear all
the time in the winter.
What/who are the influences
of your style?
I was really influenced by Sailor
Moon. I really loved the way she
dressed in that show.
How important is fashion to
you and why?
Fashion is very important to me.
I wanted to go into fashion and

be a fashion designer. People are
always surprised when I’m like
‘I’m actually a Public Health student!’ It’s something that’s a part
of my life. I need to wear stuff
that is close to my personal style
or else I feel out of place and really uncomfortable.
Tips for people that struggle
with personal style?
It’s something that’s natural to
me. It’s not really a conscious
thing. Everybody has something
familiar that they’ve kept with
them for years. You have to mix
that into the things that inspire
you and incorporate it into
things that you wear.

Trump’s win affects us all
Ricky Pacheo
Staff Writer
The banter between left and
right has been endless. Since
the announcement of Donald
Trump’s victory over Hillary, the
media has been a nonstop barrage of political outcry.
I’ve seen a lot of people lay it
all out on the line over Facebook.
I see people stick to their guns to
the bitter end. I see other people
who should never own guns.
With every good intention in
the world, Canadians continue
to be some of the nicest people
on earth.
However, in light of recent
events, it would be foolish not to
consider where we stand in the
wake of American democracy.
If you can even call it that. With
that said, I present to you a guide
of why it might not be a bad idea
to give a shit about all of this.
All politics aside, let’s begin
by acknowledging that Canada
isn’t exactly the foremost superpower in military strength. Let’s

not fool ourselves into thinking
we’d be fine outside of the veil
of American protection, especially considering the poor state
our own armed forces. I don’t
mean to monger fear, It’s just
important to understand our
personal capabilities as a sovereign nation. Without the force
of NATO behind us, how do we
find out the extent of our own
power? I won’t argue that NATO
is either this or that. It’s more
important to objectively understand how we feel about Trump
poised against it. Wanting to pull
out of the organization, Trump’s
criticisms of NATO recognize a
toll of financial burden. As well
it’s inability to serve with a justifiable purpose.
We should just see how this
can be a point of leverage against
us if there was ever an instant our
natural resources were in danger. With growing pipeline infrastructure. An increasing market for our resources, extending
as far as east Asia, puts us in a
vulnerable position to have our

land exploited. The Standing
Rock pipeline debate shows us
the controversies of American
corporatism. We can see to the
extent of which corporate greed
can be weighed against the constitutional rights of those marginalized by the deal. How then
should we rest easy knowing our
highly sought after plethora of
land and resource is not in the
hands of some globalized corporate giant?
Finally, let’s not forget what
it means to maintain Canadian
identity among the changing political landscape. After all, we define ourselves by the differences
we have from the United States.
Whether you agree with
Trump’s policies or not we are
still accountable for the due diligence of being Canadian.

Trump usesesd social media throughout his campaign. Anna Principato/The Sputnik